Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a catcher's mitt having a wrist protector pad flap which may be integrally or optionally attached thereto for the purpose of protecting the wrist and heel of the hand from abuse such as may be caused by foul tips.
In the past, baseball mitts have not been provided with satisfactory means for protecting the wrist and heel of the hand of the wearer. According to U.S. Pat. No. 811,389, a wrist band for a catcher's mitt is proposed but this interferes with wrist motion and otherwise interferes with maneuverability of the glove. Another form of catcher's mitt with wrist protector sleeve is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,602,027, but is subject to shortcomings similar to the U.S. Pat. No. 811,389 construction. Also, certain types of hockey gloves have been provided with wrist padding such as generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,130,895, but such wrist padding does not lend itself for use with a catcher's mitt.
An important object of this invention is to provide a new and improved catcher's mitt and wrist protector adapted to be secured thereto for protecting the wrist and heel of the wearer's hand from abuse from foul tips and the like.
Still another object of this invention is to provide a wrist protector of a type which can be integrally attached to a catcher's mitt at the factory.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a wrist protector which can be readily assembled with an existing catcher's mitt by a user.
A further object of this invention is to provide a wrist protector so constructed and applied as not to restrict wrist motion or otherwise interfere with freedom of maneuverability.
A still further object of this invention is to provide a wrist protector which can be assembled with a catcher's mitt without necessity for any alteration of normal manufacturing procedures.
According to important features of this invention, a baseball catcher's mitt is provided with a tongue-like wrist protector pad flap. The mitt may be of the type having back and palm pieces and provided with a hand-receiving opening. Each mitt piece has a cut-out area matched with the other and bounded by a thumb section, a pocket section and a finger section, there being a web with web lacing means joining the web with the thumb and finger sections. The pocket section has a heel section adjacent to the opening end. padding between the pieces includes a heel pad of substantial thickness. The generally flat wrist protector pad flap is positioned to extend away from the heel pad in adjacency to the hand-receiving opening. Stitching and/or lacing means join the wrist protector pad in functioning assembly with the palm face of the heel pad of the mitt. A flexible hinge for the wrist protector flap is provided at juncture of the wrist protector with the mitt. By virtue of the substantial thickness of the heel pad, the protector pad flap is supported substantially spaced from the wrist during normal play and permits free wrist movement relative to the flap while providing efficient wrist protection.